It was in the process of this recent work that an interior sheathing board on the east side of the house was discovered to have numerous commercial advertisements pasted to it dating to year 1857. The advertisements are mounted perpendicular to the board facing the interior of the wall, suggesting that it was literally a reused "bill-board." While this discovery disproves prior speculation dating the Schneider-Bulera House to 1849 or before, the house still ranks among the oldest in St. Paul, and the house's pre-Civil War history and whereabouts remain an intriguing mystery.'

It was in the process of this recent work that an interior sheathing board on the east side of the house was discovered to have numerous commercial advertisements pasted to it dating to year 1857. The advertisements are mounted perpendicular to the board facing the interior of the wall, suggesting that it was literally a reused "bill-board." While this discovery disproves prior speculation dating the Schneider-Bulera House to 1849 or before, the house still ranks among the oldest in St. Paul, and the house's pre-Civil War history and whereabouts remain an intriguing mystery.'

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== Memory ==

== Memory ==

To quote a city official when the previous oldest house in Saint Paul was torn down by United Hospital several years ago "There will always be another oldest house!"

To quote a city official when the previous oldest house in Saint Paul was torn down by United Hospital several years ago "There will always be another oldest house!"

The Schneider-Bulera House -- Built some time around 1857 making it among one of the oldest surviving houses in St. Paul. Time and interest by the city to save it have not been kind to it judging by looks.

Much of its earliest history remains as of yet unknown, but that it was moved to its present site. Franz Joseph and Barbara Schneider, an Austrian couple, moved into it in 1869 as renters and later purchased the property in 1871. The surrounding area was relatively undeveloped at that time and the Schneiders used the property as part of their dairy farm, and a barn and chicken coop were constructed to the rear of the lot.

The house stayed in the Schneider family for 118 years until the family sold the house to the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation in 1987.

The attached blurb about that home is taken from a 2001
Preservation Alliance of Minnesota brochure titled "Historic Homes of St. Paul's Uppertown & Irvine Park"

'Until quite recently the Schneider-Bulera House was believed by some to be the oldest surviving residence in St. Paul, possibly even predating Minnesota's territorial period (which began in 1849). No documentation has ever been discovered indicating its precise date of construction or its first owner even, for that matter, its original location. What is known is that Leberect and Dorothea Otto, who owned a farm west of St. Paul, purchased that the land on which the house now sits as a vacant lot in the 1850s. The Ottos subsequently lost title to the lot due to a failure to pay back-taxes, but by the mid- 1860s they managed to repurchase it. During this interval the property abstract indicates that a house of modest value had appeared on the site, and it is thought that the investor moved the house to its present site to increase the value of the property for resale.

In 1869 Franz Joseph and Barbara Schneider, an Austrian couple, moved into the house
as renters,
and they subsequently purchased the house in 1871. Even as late as that date much of the land to the west of Michigan Street (then called Von Minden) was sparsely settled rolling prairie. Franz used the property as part of his dairy farm, and a barn and chicken coop were constructed to the rear of the lot. Incredibly, the house stayed in the Schneider family for 118 years. The Schnelder's grand-daughter Jennie married John W Bulera, and Jennie and John's grandsons sold the house to the West Seventh/Fort Road Federation in 1987. The Federation subsequently reconvened the property to the Uppertown Preservation League, which in 1999 saved the house from near collapse by placing it on a new foundation. John Yust served as architect and Authentic Construction Company as contractor for this extraordinary effort, each donating a substantial amount of their work. The original staircase and much of the interior trim, doors, hardware, and original studs have been preserved for re-incorporation in the restored structure.

It was in the process of this recent work that an interior sheathing board on the east side of the house was discovered to have numerous commercial advertisements pasted to it dating to year 1857. The advertisements are mounted perpendicular to the board facing the interior of the wall, suggesting that it was literally a reused "bill-board." While this discovery disproves prior speculation dating the Schneider-Bulera House to 1849 or before, the house still ranks among the oldest in St. Paul, and the house's pre-Civil War history and whereabouts remain an intriguing mystery.'